Appeal from a decision of the District Court of Suffolk County, First District (James P. Flanagan, J.), dated July 6, 2006, deemed from an amended judgment of said court entered pursuant thereto on August 17, 2006. The amended judgment, after a nonjury trial, awarded plaintiff the principal sum of $533 and implicitly dismissed defendant's counterclaim.

Judgment affirmed without costs.

Plaintiff dental practice commenced the instant action to recover for unpaid services rendered to defendant. Defendant interposed a defense and counterclaim, requesting return of the sums she had already paid, claiming that the services billed for were not performed and that the amounts charged should have been fully covered by her Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Employee Benefit Fund policy.

At trial, plaintiff demonstrated that it had performed preliminary dental work on defendant in preparation for the insertion of a permanent bridge, and defendant acknowledged same. Plaintiff proffered evidence showing that defendant had signed an agreement, prior to the commencement of her dental work, in which she agreed that she would be responsible for all dental fees, that she would be charged for all treatment, and that any amounts received by plaintiff from the carrier would either be credited to her account or refunded to her if she had already paid the fees incurred. According to plaintiff, defendant's remaining portion of the bill not covered by the carrier was $533, which, pursuant to plaintiff's office policy, had to be paid before installation of the permanent bridge. Defendant did not deny having signed the agreement or having been told of the office "pre-payment" policy, but argued that she had already paid plaintiff $1,225, and that plaintiff was required to accept the amount already paid by the carrier as payment in full. Plaintiff, on the other hand, contended that defendant was responsible for payment of non-covered services.

A medical or dental provider is entitled to recover for professional services rendered, [*2]under a valid express contract, from the other party to the contract, the patient (see generally 83A NY Jur 2d, Physicians, Surgeons, and Other Healers §§ 201, 203). As it was undisputed that plaintiff performed dental services for defendant, and that plaintiff signed a document in which she agreed to be responsible for payment of all dental fees, it is clear that she had an obligation to pay for said services. Defendant failed to demonstrate through competent evidence that she was not personally obligated to pay the remaining balance. With respect to her signed agreement with plaintiff, we note that a person "who executes a contract is presumed to know its contents and to assent to them" (Moon Choung v Allstate Ins. Co., 283 AD2d 468 [2001]). Accordingly, the court below did not err in awarding judgment to plaintiff and dismissing the counterclaim.

We note that upon payment of the judgment, defendant is entitled to possession of the permanent bridge. She may then have it installed and adjusted by plaintiff at no additional cost, pursuant to the agreement of the parties, or, in the alternative, she may have the permanent bridge installed by another dentist of her choosing.

McCabe, J.P., Tanenbaum and Molia, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: March 13, 2008